All Ladled Out

ONE CENT:

Dear All Ladled Out,

So great you're thinking about volunteering in such a wholistic way.  Your question goes right to the heart of the SixSeeds mission where we love it when families integrate service into the core of their family values.  One trip to the soup kitchen, hopefully becomes the first of many and also becomes part of the memories and legacy your family is building as it grows together. 

Did you take any photos of your family working at the kitchen?  Do you remember any of the names of the people you worked with and/or served that day?  If so, remembering them, praying for them and talking about your experience is a great way for your family to keep focused.  Perhaps that approach will encourage your family to check back in on the people you met along the way and continue to nurture your ties to them.

TWO CENT:

Dear Ladled,

After the actual service, the work isn't done.  Take time to reflect on what happened at the soup kitchen.  If you have small children, do an art project that focuses on the project.  Trace one of their hands on a large piece of construction paper or white paper.  Ask your child what she or he learned, and write the lesson learned on the traced finger.  On the palm, write what your child did.  Title it "Helping Hand," and hang on your refrigerator.  Collect these "hands" for each project.  You could make a "hand" too!

 For older kids, have a discussion tonight at dinner.  Some ideas from the ZoomVolunteer Guide: 

1. Whom did you help?
2. What did you see and hear?
3. How did you feel?
4. What did you learn that you didn't know before?
5. What new questions or ideas do we have?
6. Is there anything we would do differently next time?

Congratulations on the first step to family volunteering!